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AUGUST 2018 – FORMING PRACTICE HABITS – Part 2

If practice is important, how can parents encourage students to engage in practice between lessons?

Here are some suggestions that I hope will be helpful!As we all know, it can be difficult to implement changes. I know from experience, as a parent myself! We are all learning all the time, right?

Q.Do students need to practice everyday, and if so, how much?

Music is a skill that is learned like any other:through repetition.Frequent review will cause a student to master the skill more quickly.This is the case in favor of practicing at home between lessons.

*I recommend that kids practice 3-5 days per week for 5 minutes of every grade level.That is, a first grader could practice 5 minutes at a time, whereas a 6th grader should be able to handle 30 minutes at a time.If you aim for 5 or 7 days, maybe you might hit 3-5 days of practice?

Q.Will a student continue to improve if they don’t practice?

* Yes, they will continue to improve if they only practice at their lessons, just not as rapidly as a someone who engages in a daily practice regimen.

Q.Why is it so hard to get kids to practice?

* One reason why practicing is hard is because it is a mental activity that doesn’t just instantly grab one’s attention.Today, our culture battles the attraction and distraction electronic games.These things by nature instantly grab one’s attention.And if they don’t, it’s a just one quick click to move on to something more interesting.Practice requires the ability to settle in and concentrate without necessarily being entertained.